Ascent of Stony Mountain on 2011-08-06

Ascent Trip Report

Stony Mountain was my last highpoint for the day and it worried me more than the others I reached today , because it looked like I was going to have a long hike of bushwhacking and it was late in the afternoon. I knew it might be difficult to get back to my car before dark, especially when I met a locked gate 1 1/2 miles from the summit. Fortunately, heavy rain had stopped and the road beyond the gate was quite good for hiking. This got me to within 1/4 mile of the summit and the off trail travel was not nearly as difficult as I had expected. It did get very steep, however, and I had to climb large boulders that were extremely slippery because of the rain on thick moss. It was actually quite dangerous because a fall could have given me a tumble of a dozen feet in places. The summit of Stony Mountain was covered with large boulders and it was fun problem solving the best route to climb on the slippery rocks. It was rewarding to discover a small summit cairn when I reached the top. The person who built this highpoint marker would probably make a good friend since we apparently share the same passion for climbing in out of the way places. I wondered if he (or she?) visited this spot alone as well.